WXPN/World Cafe Internship: The Continued Importance of Radio

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Zachary Levin ('26) is an intended Philosophy, Politics and Economics major who interned for NPR/WXPN's World Cafe radio show through the Summer Humanities Internship Program (SHIP).

Music has always been present in my life. Whether through listening to the radio, playing the saxophone, or discussing new artists with friends, music has informed and guided my experience both as an intellectually curious individual and a socially conscious person. This summer, I hoped to gain new musical and professional experiences and found that WXPN could give me both.

I worked as a programming intern for NPR/WXPN’s World Cafe radio show. In this role, I created the daily deliverables that were sent to over 200 affiliate stations, prepared preparation files for artist interviews, assisted with artist hospitality during in-person recording sessions, and worked with ProTools to complete composer documents. Though many tasks involved skills I had previously possessed, I was challenged with learning new software programs, such as ProTools recording software, and skills, such as properly setting-up and tearing-down recording equipment. Additionally, I gained insight into the inner-workings of radio through conversations with others on the World Cafe team, sitting in on World Cafe meetings, and through discussions with my programming manager.

Throughout the internship, I gained connections with fellow interns, members of the World Cafe team, and several artists and managers who visited for recording sessions. Spontaneous conversations ranging from Phish to video games broke out during downtime in recording sessions or while walking around the office, and I was always treated with respect and kindness whenever I worked with or conversed with a member of the WXPN/World Cafe team. Additionally, I had the chance to meet artists and their managers during recording sessions. For example, during a recording session with Christian McBride, I met Matthew Jurasek, director of marketing at Mack Avenue Records; a few weeks after the session, he was kind enough to talk with me over the phone about his career and careers in the music business more broadly.

My summer at WXPN proved to be valuable and instructive in helping me formulate ideas about future careers both in and out of music. Working at WXPN opened my eyes to the breadth of careers in the music industry and the continued importance of radio. For fellow music lovers, I would recommend pursuing an internship through WXPN.  - Zachary Levin

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